Poetry winners announced!

Phil Hewitt

Organiser Belinda Wilkins was delighted that more than 50 competitors sent in more than 100 poems from as far away as Jersey and Windermere. Planned as a fund-raising event for Cruse Bereavement Care, it raised £500 for the West Sussex branch.

Judge Sara Hutton Potts and Belinda spent hours reading and re-reading the varied collection covering a multitude of subjects. They then had the hard task of choosing the winners.

Belinda said: “The age range was immense from nine to 93. Sadly only two juniors entered and so the spare section prize money enabled a new section to be formed with the theme of Grief. All the prize winners can be read on Cruse Lines Poetry Competition webpage and Facebook Page.

“A number of other poems that caught the eye of the judges will be posted on the sites during the next few months.”

Sara said: “The standard was extremely high, and it was so hard to come to the final decisions. Poetry is such a personal and subjective genre in all its varied forms and structures, but it was great to see many very confident and original ideas conveyed in a variety of forms and structures, free verse, rhyming couplets and stanzas – for those of you thinking of entering next year – be bold and brave with all the aspects of writing.

“Don’t be tricked into faithfully following a rhyme scheme. Sometimes this can be very restrictive. Repetition can also be restricting, but on the other hand it sometimes has impact. Finally, find a couple of guinea-pigs to read your work aloud to, and before submitting, leave it aside for several days before returning to it and proof-reading several times.”

The organisers are planning a poetry day when all poems will be on display and a number being read out loud. Competitors will be forwarded the details at a later date.

Belinda added: “For those who enjoyed entering this year’s Cruse Lines Poetry Competition or those who missed out and would like to take part next year the theme for the sections will be Nature, Grief, Humour and Any Subject. There is plenty of time for the closing date is not until February 1. All results and details of next year will be on the web page www.cruselinespoetrycompetition.com